9 comments:

A minor nit, as I posted over at the source. The second Babbage engine was commissioned by Nathan Myhrvold, who was kind enough to lend it to us at the Computer History Museum for ~18 months, through YE2009.

See it while you can!Most days, at 2pm is a lecture and demonstration, as a trained docent turns the crank and it computes. [Training needed:turn the crank too fast and it jams.]

Think of it as the first Dot-Bomb. They spent much money, never shipped, although the design actually works, and was indeed buildable with the era's machine tools.

Ada never got a chance to see code running, but at least she got a language named after her.

Dear Rabett, thanks to a recent advice column in one of the local newspapers, in which a woman who is pregnant asked about the propriety of carrying and using a handheld fan of the type depicted here, I found that in fact they _were_ twitter:

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Eli Rabett

Eli Rabett, a not quite failed professorial techno-bunny who finally handed in the keys and retired from his wanna be research university. The students continue to be naive but great people and the administrators continue to vary day-to-day between homicidal and delusional without Eli's help. Eli notices from recent political developments that this behavior is not limited to administrators. His colleagues retain their curious inability to see the holes that they dig for themselves. Prof. Rabett is thankful that they, or at least some of them occasionally heeded his pointing out the implications of the various enthusiasms that rattle around the department and school. Ms. Rabett is thankful that Prof. Rabett occasionally heeds her pointing out that he is nuts.